Pardon my glare, I’m still rather new at the photography business. The word obscured by amateur skills is ‘hairnets,’ which are more common in the industry and not just reserved for lunch ladies. All handlers of food are required to wear some sort of head gear, in an effort to stop unwanted hairs from showing up in your food. Some kitchens, less savvy on the dress code, often only require a baseball cap, and that longer hair be pulled back, or tucked under in some way.

As the picture suggests, one might assume females tend to wear hairnets more, as they are prone to having longer hair. Though I can assure you that I’ve known several fellows that are quite proud of their manly manes, especially one of more coworkers who insists his ponytail controls his destiny. Don’t mess with the pony tail. Though I have yet to see him don a hair net.

I’ve worn a few in my time, and I will say that wearing one gives me a feeling of nakedness. You can see it in the faces of others as well. Perhaps someone forget their hat before leaving their house that morning. You can feel the tension, watching as they reach into the box of hairnets, pulling one out from it’s paper wrapping, uncertain as to which side of the net goes forward. Sometimes they will steal quick glances around, as if feeling the pressure of someone else’s gaze upon them. Wearing a hairnet can be quite unnerving, if you aren’t used to it. And then some damn fool will call you out on it, which is basically immature behavior at best. One doesn’t really dress to impress in a kitchen.

…

For those uninitiated in The Service (i.e. food service), there exists a plethora of products dedicated to the art of sanitation, something that is taken quite seriously in the biz. And what company better suited to supply the kitchen with those products, then Sysco, one of the staples of the food service world. I do have to say Sysco doesn’t mess around much with artistic imagery on their products. Most boxes are easily recognizable by the basic color scheme: good ole’ red, white and blue (USA! USA!). As most kitchens utilize their products (and there are a lot of them) I suppose it makes sense to keep the art budget down. However, sometimes there is a diamond in the rough. Like this lady. Something screams 1950’s about this one. Perhaps it’s the hair. Kept calmly under wraps.

Unfortunately, this gal is often subject to graffiti. Most cooks keep a sharpie on them at all times, useful for labeling food. (and their non-toxic!) And sometimes, a cook just needs to let loose, usually in the form of adding a well placed mustache. I’ll keep my eyes peeled if I spot any impromptu mark ups.